Page 34 of Threads that Remain
Brandon gave him a dry glance.
“There may be.”
“And which did you do?”
A pause.
“Stared.”
Edward could no longer conceal his amusement.
Brandon shook his head.
“I did make every effort to behave as a gentleman.”
“I know you did.”
“It would have been extremely improper to make the occasion uncomfortable for anyone.”
“Indeed.”
“Particularly Marianne.”
Edward’s amusement softened.
“Yes. Particularly Marianne.”
They resumed their walk.
For a while neither spoke.
Edward knew his brother-in-law well enough by now to understand what Brandon would never willingly confess. It could not have been easy to even be in the same room with the man who had once so grievously injured both Eliza and Marianne. It could not have been made easier by knowing that the two of them had once stood opposite each other with pistols in their hands, their anger and wounded honour reduced to the question of which man would walk away.
Edward had never asked many questions about the duel.
He did not need to. But there were moments when he suspected that Brandon remembered it more vividly than he cared to admit.
“Tell me,” Edward said at last, “did you have to restrain yourself from imagining the duel all over again?”
Brandon turned his head.
Edward was attempting to appear perfectly serious.
He was failing.
The Colonel studied him for a moment, then gave a small, reluctant smile.
“There are times,” he admitted, “when I imagine a different outcome.”
Edward said nothing.
“But,” continued Brandon, “I always arrive at the same conclusion.”
“And what conclusion is that?”
“That it would have weighed upon my conscience had I not missed.”
Edward’s smile disappeared into something gentler.
